Recent government action

In 2019 the prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced a new “NHS visa” which would make it significantly easier for doctors and nurses from around the world to work in the UK. This visa would cost around £464, half the usual price, and would be guaranteed a decision within two weeks. This was established pre-pandemic, to mitigate any negative impact which Brexit would have in attracting overseas staff to the NHS, demonstrating how important migrant workers are for  the service.

Following this, in the peak of the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, the government announced that all non-European Union migrant workers in the health sector whose work visas were due to expire before 31 March 2021 would have them extended for another year with no fee.

This scheme has now been extended, to allow healthcare workers that fit the eligible profession criteria with visas due to expire between 1 April 2021 and 30 September 2021 to apply for a free one year extension. The scheme also allows dependent family members of healthcare workers, such as spouses or children under 18, to apply for the visa extension too.

The Private Member’s Bill

In November 2020, the Immigration (Health and Social Care Staff) Bill 2019-21 was put forward, which intends to offer migrant healthcare workers indefinite leave to remain. This is similar to the actions taken in countries such as France, where full citizenship is being granted to frontline migrant workers. The bill is supported by the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Nursing, the Doctors Association UK, Independent Age and Unison, and MPs are thought to have received upwards of 7,400 letters of advocacy for the bill. 

However, the second reading of the bill was delayed in January 2021 due to the Commons’ COVID-19 safety rules. The Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine, who sponsored the bill, has since called on the government to consider debating the bill remotely due to the urgency of its nature, stating “I make no bones about the fact that I would like the government to recognise the contribution made by the NHS workers – the foreign nationals – who have done so much for this country in this crisis”.

The rest of this article can be read here.

DAUK’s Dr Vinesh Patel on residency delays stopping migrant medics from working:

“Surely at a time of the pandemic, the question we should be asking is can we invest in speeding up this process, reduce the bureaucracy that these clinicians are facing, and find out why we can’t have them on the front line.”

The NHS is buckling under the pressure of Covid-19, with tens of thousands of doctors and nurses across England now off sick because of the virus – accounting for almost half of all staff absences.

The UK’s daily coronavirus deaths have reached four figures for the first time since April. The staffing crisis has become so severe that NHS bosses have been pleading with doctors and nurses to work extra shifts.  

Yet at the same time, there are qualified health workers sitting at home who are desperate to be on the front line helping to tackle the crisis but who are being prevented from doing so.

Many are waiting for the Home Office to issue their biometric residence permits (BRP), which prove a visa holder’s right to work in the UK – with some having already waited months when the process should, according to the government, take seven to 10 days.

Others are asylum seekers who have been waiting on their claims for over a year – at which point they should be allowed to work in shortage occupations, which include all medical practitioners – but they are facing delays receiving evidence of their right to work from the Home Office.

Dr Dolin Bhagawati, a neurosurgeon and editorial lead for Doctors’ Association UK, said he knew of about 40 cases of qualified medical staff currently being unable to work because to delays in their BRP cards being issued.

“Right now, the UK is crying out for all the trained staff we have available, even calling up retired NHS workers and students. However, by not doing all it can to allow foreign doctors with valid visas to work as soon as possible, the Home Office is failing to do its part in a nationwide effort to fight this virus,” he said.

Dr Bhagawati said a “simple” solution would be to grant indefinite leave to remain for all NHS and care workers and their dependents in order to “simplify this process, cut down on bureaucratic excuses and allow everybody to get on with their jobs”.

Read the full article here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/doctors-migrants-covid-nhs-home-office-b1784054.html

“As opposed to [the first wave] where we were described as heroes, now we receive messages that say we are lying… it’s really painful. There are no words to explain what we see on a daily basis… When you hear these conspiracy theories, it just breaks your heart.”

“Right now, we are all on autopilot. We don’t have enough time to express grief. Maybe when the storm has passed, that’s when we’ll find out how much it is has affected all of us.”

“30% of NHS doctors were born overseas. A good proportion of these people have their families living in different continents. Not being able to visit their family, yet working day in, day out for the NHS… there is no better portrayal of loyalty than this.”

Dr Pushpo Babul Hossain, DAUK

Listen to the full podcast here.

Doctors’ Association UK concerned that Home Office delays are preventing Doctors from helping in pandemic. IHS refunds still not processed

The Doctors’ Association UK has written to the Home Secretary Priti Patel regarding two issues that are adversely affecting the NHS frontline’s efforts to combat the escalating coronavirus pandemic. These are specifically related to delays in issuing Biometric Residency Permits for doctors with valid visas to work in the UK and the ongoing delays in refunding the Immigration Health Surcharge, promised earlier this year.

Delays in issuing BRPs are preventing qualified doctors with valid visas currently in the UK from starting work in the NHS and helping to mitigate the increasing effect of staff sickness from the escalating rates of COVID-19.

This is exemplified by Dr Ahmad Ussaid, a respiratory specialist doctor with a visa approved who is currently in Leicester, a city hit particularly hard by COVID-19. However, he is unable to start work due to an ongoing delay providing him with a BRP, despite multiple contacts by email and telephone in addition to intervention by his MP. He remains ready to jump into the fray but unable to due to this bureaucratic hinderance, depriving him of an income and the NHS of a skilled doctor when the country needs them most.

Meanwhile numerous doctors have also contacted us regarding delays in refunding the Immigration Health Surcharge. A flagship promise made by the Prime Minister and reinforced by the cabinet was to refund the IHS. However, for many charged such as Dr Aqsa Ghanzanfar who has emailed the Home Office thrice, they still await refund of this for no clear reason. Others have been refused as they have paid form bank accounts from their country of origin which have been understandably closed on arrival to the UK.

Dr Dolin Bhagawati, a Neurosurgeon working in London and Editorial Lead for DAUK said:

“These prolonged and ongoing bureaucratic delays are simply unconscionable. We have trained doctors in this country who are ready and willing to help combat the pandemic but unable to work due to the Home Office not doing its job and supplying appropriate documentation.

Meanwhile promises made by the Prime Minister and the cabinet regarding refunding the IHS to NHS staff continue to remain unfulfilled. How can the NHS attract the best and brightest to the UK if the world sees a government unable to fulfil straightforward promises?

Unfortunately, the immigration rhetoric and policies of the recent past has led to many of our valued colleagues feeling crestfallen, unappreciated, and exploited. This country must reward those that come to its aid in its time of greatest need.

We call on the government to do its job to allow the NHS to do its part in leading the country through this national emergency.”

CONTACT

Press@dauk.org